Middlings-purifier



of the casing 1.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

SETH H. BAKER AND JAMES H. VERITY, OF RAPIDAN, MINNESOTA.

MIDDLINGS-PURIFIER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 474,354, dated May 10, 1892.

Application filed June 4,1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, SETH H. BAKER and JAMES H.VERITY,citizens of theUnited States, residing at Rapidan, in the county of Blue Earth and State of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful llliddlings-Pnritier, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to middlings-pnritiers; and it has for its object to provide a machine of this class by means of which the dust and light particles may be effectually separated from the middlings and gathered in a suitable receptacle without the necessity for resorting to the use'of a separate (1 net-collector for the purpose of purifying the air.

The invention consists in the improved construction, arrangement, and combination of parts, which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a middlings-purifier constructed in accordance with our invention. Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1.

Like numerals of reference indicate like parts in the figures.

In the casing 1 at its upper front corner is mounted a fan-case 2, the discharge spout 3 of which faces in a rearward direction. The fan-case has the usual side openings, and the shaft 4 of the fan 5 is journaied in the sides The latter is provided with a transverse partition 6, which separates the air or suction trunk 7 from the main body of the casing. Upon the front side of the casing, which also forms the front side of the spout, are mounted a series of triangular steps 8, above which is a slot 9, which forms the inlet. The hopper 1.0, which is arranged above the said inlet-slot upon the front side of the casin g, is provided with the transversely-arranged feed-roller 11, and at the upper front edge of said hopper is hinged the feed-plate 12, having a forwardly-extending arm or lever 13, upon which a weight 14 is mounted, the function of which is to hold the feed-plate against the feed-roller with a suitable degree of pressure. A set-screw 15, which is mounted in the front side of the hopper, is adapted to bear Serial No. 395,089. (No model.)

against the feed-plate, thus regulating the extent to which the latter may be opened or moved away from the feed-roller.

16 designates a plate mounted in the air or suction trunk and secured to the partition 6 and spaced therefrom from its lower end, which meets the same by means of suitable triangular spacingblocks 16 between the former and said partition at each side of the main casing. The plate 16 hasaseries of inclined deflectors 17 extending between the triangular steps upon the front wall of the spout and combining with said steps to form a tortuous or zigzag passage. The plate 16 is provided below the inclined deflectors 17 with slots or openings 18, which connect the tortuous passage 19 with the space 20 between the plate 16 and the partition 6.

Within the main body of the casing 1 is constructed a casing 21, having a spirally or eccentrically disposed rim or outer shell and the outer end of which receives the discharge from the spout 3 of the fan-case. A lip ordeflector 22 depends in an inclined position from the spout 3 into the mouth of the spiral casing 21, and to the latter is attached a triangular partition 23. A partition 2 connects the spiral casing 21 with the partition 6, and the latter is provided above the partition 24c and below the plate 16 with a slot or opening 25. A discharge-spout 26 extends downwardly from the spiral casing 21. A shaft 27, which is journaled in the sides of the casing 21, 18 provided with radially-extending arms 28,

transverse slats 29, and said shaft is located within the casing so that the spiral rim or shell of the same is eccentrioally disposed at all points with relation thereto. The shaft 27 is belted to the feed-roller, which in turn is belted to the fan-shaft 4:. The latter is to be rotated at a high rate of speed, which is much reduced in its transmission to the feedroller and further reduced in its transmission to the reel-shaft, which latter is intended to make only about twelve revolutions a minute, the main object of said slowly-revolving reel being to retard the force of the wind directed thereon by the spiral disposition of the rim of the casing 21 to beat and settle the dust down within the discharge therefor and also forming a reel, said arms being provided with to scrape the dust from the bottom of the easing, which portion said reel touches, into said spout.

In operation the middlings are fed into the hopper 10, where they accumulate until their weight is sufficient to overcome the weight let upon the arm or lever 13, attached to the feedplate 12, when the latter will swing open and the middlings pass between its loweredge and the feed-roller. The weight 1-1 is to be made sufficiently heavy to prevent the feed-plate from swinging open until the middlings'eX- tend over the entire length of the feed-roller The middlings passing through the slot 9 will drop through the tortuous passage of the air or suction trunk. In the meantime suction in an upward direction is created in the air or suction trunk, thus separating the dust and light particles from the middlings, the dust-laden air passing through the slots 18 .and passage 20 into the fan-case, from whence it is discharged into the spiral casing 21; Owing to the shape of the latter, the airis whirled toward the center, and as it impinges upon the arms of the reel the dust willsettle to the bottom of the casing, from which it is swept by the arms of the reel into the exit-spout 26. The air returns through the passage between the lip or deflector 22 and the partition23, and through the space between the partition 6 and the spiral casing 21, and through the slot 25 to the lower end of the air or suction trunk 7, through which it again passes upwardly to the fan-case. The purified middlings escape at the lower end of the slot 7.

It will be seen from the foregoing description that no air is taken from outside thee-asing or discharged into the room where the machine is located, the air contained in the casing being forced to continuethe circuitous course above indicated, the dust and light particles being first separated from the middlings and afterward from the air by the single operation of our improved machine.

Having thus described our invention, what We claim is 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary fan, a casing arranged to receive the discharge from the fan-case and having a spirally or eccentrically disposed rim or shell, and a beating-reel mounted in the casing eccentrically with relation to the rim or shell thereof, substantially as set forth.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination, with a rotary fan, of .a casing having a spirally or eccentrically disposed rim or sheil extended up and arranged to receive the discharge from the fancase, passages to reconduct the air to the latter from the spirally-disposed casin g, and a beating-reel eccentrically mounted in said casing, substantially as set forth.

3. In a machine of the class described, the combination of a rotary fan, a casing having a spirally or eccentrically disposed rim or shell arranged to receive the discharge from the fan-case, a reel mounted revolubly in said arranged to receive the discharge from the fan-case, passages connecting the casing with the suction-trunk near the lower end of thelatter, and a beating-reel eccentrically mounted in said casing, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a rotary fan, the air or suction trunk arranged below the same and having a feed-hopper, a plate mounted in said spout and having inclined deflectors and slots or openings below the same,a spiral casing arranged to receive the discharge of the fan-case, passages connecting the said spiral casing with the spout below the deflecting-plate, and a beating-reel eccentrically mounted in said casing, substantially as set forth.

6. The combination of a rotary fan, an air or suction trunk arranged belowthe same and having a feed-hopper, a casing having a spirally or eccentrically disposed rim or shell arranged to receive the discharge from the fancase'aud provided with a discharge-spout, a beatingrecl mounted in said casing eccentrically with relation to the rim orshellthereof, and passages connecting the casing with the lowermost end of said suction-trunk, arranged below the fan-case, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

7. The combination of a rotary fan, an air orsuctiou trunk arranged belowthe same and having a feed-hopper and a series of triangular steps, a plate mounted in said hopper and having a series of inclined deflectors and slots or openings below the latter, a spiral casing arranged to receive the discharge of the fan-case and provided with a dischargespout, a reel eccentrically mounted in said casing, and passages connecting the latter with the spout below the deflecting-plate in the latter, substantially as set forth.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as ourown we have hereto affixed our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

SETH H. BAKER. J AMES H. YERITY. 

